|
Volunteer
Work with Children
Takashi
Shii from Japan
|
Photo
from Takashii Shii
I almost cried when some
students at the program came to
the airport to see me off on
February
28th.
|
|
For
three or four days after the night I
arrived in Yellowknife, it was cloudy, I
couldn't see the northern lights like we
can't see stars in a cloudy
sky.
I
devoted myself to looking for someone who
needed help. I often went to the
Information Center downtown carrying a map
and asked a worker there if anyone needed
some volunteers or not.
There
were lots of people, however, most of them
wanted someone who could stay more than
two or three months.
Unfortunately,
because I had to go back to Japan for the
new semester at college, I couldn't stay
there that long.
The
volunteer work which I found was an after
school program at the YWCA. My work was
disciplining students. After their classes
at elementary school, I and two other
co-workers went to the school to pick up
those kids who were supposed to study in
the program.
The
reason why these kids come to the program
was their behavioral problems. They had
difficulty in adjusting to teachers and
friends at the school. They never listened
to what teachers said and often fought
with other classmates.
On
the first day of my volunteer work in the
program, I was shocked to see the rudeness
of the children. They didn't even try to
remember my name just because it was
difficult for them to pronounce it. They
called me "Chinese" or "Korean", not
"Japanese" even though they knew my
nationality after my introduction.
In
the program,
two
other co-workers and I established a
timetable and let them play, study, clean
rooms and so on. Since these students
didn't listen to what we said so
seriously, we made a rule, the so-called
"Three strike system".
Once
they did something wrong, they got one
strike. And when they got three strikes,
they had to get out of the room, which is
the same system as in baseball when
batters have to leave the batter box when
they get three strikes. Then we called
their mother or father and told them how
badly their children behaved so these
children would behave properly.
Sometimes
we played some sports like soccer and
tennis. Since I had some experience
playing tennis, I could teach tennis to
those who were willing to learn. As I
talked or played sports with these
children everyday, they gradually became
familiar with me and finally remembered my
name, which I never expected.
Unfortunately,
by the time I really felt close with them
and they pronounced my name very well, it
was already at the end of February and I
had to go back to Vancouver.
Sometimes
I had to give these students a good
scolding when they didn't behave properly,
and they swore at me at times when they
got upset. But, even though lots of
incidents made me have stress, I was so
sad when I had to part from them. They
asked me when I was going to visit them
again. All I could say was "I would like
to call on you again when I have time and
enough budget after I graduate from
college".
I
couldn't say honestly , "Probably I will
never have a chance to visit you because
it costs money to come here again." I
almost cried when some students at the
program came to the airport to see me off
on February 28th.
More about Takashi's Arctic
Experiences:
My
Life in the Northwest
Territories
| The
Northern
Lights
A
Dog Sled Ride and Traditional
Ways
Return
to: My
Arctic
Experiences
| Issue
4
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